


How to Train Your Hero

by Asinglepale_r_ose



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Mineta Minoru Doesn't Exist, Alternate Universe - My Hero Academia Fusion, Alternate Universe- How to Train Your Dragon, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Haven't decided on ships yet, Hiccup has a quirk, Hiccup is a UA student, Human Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), I might ship some characters, I'm kinda rusty on fanfiction, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Toothless has a quirk, Toothless is a UA student, Toothless replaces him, haven't decided - Freeform, i think, let me know if that's wrong, no update schedule, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-08-20 06:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16550894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asinglepale_r_ose/pseuds/Asinglepale_r_ose
Summary: Gekido Ryuuroko wants nothing more than to be a hero just like his father. There's just one problem: The quirk he got from his parents doesn't seem to be in his control.Hiccup Haddock is an exchange student who moved from Norway to Japan to attend UA and wants to figure out exactly what happened to his mother.Welcome to How to Train Your Hero





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I finally did it. After ten years of writing original works and abandoning novel after novel, I have finally succumbed to the temptation of writing fanfiction.
> 
> Just to make it perfectly clear: Ryuu is Toothless. I figured as a human, he'd need a name. After doing some digging, Gekido can loosely be translated to mean "Fury" (technically it means "to lose the temper") and Ryuuroko means "Dragon Scales" (more accurately: Ryu(u) means "dragon" and Uroko means "fish scales").
> 
> This came about as an idea when we were doing a discussion of BNHA OCs on a facebook group. I couldn't get the idea of Toothless becoming a hero in training at UA. The first thing I ever wrote out for this was the tournament arc. I have a rough outline and a few first drafts but no upload schedule. I'll try to do it once a week, but I work full time. I hope you like it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and welcome to How to Train Your Hero

Making friends is a weird thing, indeed. Ryuuroko has never been great at making friends. Everything from his appearance to his demeanor screams “Go away!” Sharp, gnashing teeth and beastly green eyes do not belong on an eight year old child. In a world full of extraordinary humans of all different shapes and sizes, eight year old Gekido Ryuuroko is definitely on the more unsettling end. Friends have never been something to come easy to him. It didn’t matter, really. He had learned to be mean first, before his own feelings could be hurt when someone commented on his appearance. So, why is it that when the foreign boy, with eyes just as green as his own, moved in next door he _would not_ leave him alone?

“I’m not a foreigner!” The child squeaks, tiny hands bunching into fists, “Mama was from here!”

Ryuuroko rolls his wide eyes. “But __you’re__ not. You can tell ‘cause you talk funny.”

“Dad calls it an ‘accent.’”

Ryuu eyes the boy, listening curiously to the sound of his voice. Harsher sounds throughout words are made softer, as if melting on his tongue. Other sounds are slurred together and it almost makes it hard to understand. It was the first thing Ryuu noticed about the kid when he waddled into his yard.

The second thing he noticed was the eyes. An unnatural green, just like his. Upon closer inspection, he notices an odd pattern in them. Almost like they’re…tiny machines.

Ryuuroko’s mother had told him a few days ago a small family would be moving into the vacant house next door. She told him maybe the son would be his age, and they could get along. Ryuu was not as optimistic. No one but Mama and Father liked him.

And here he is, frustratingly being proven wrong by a stubborn tooth-pick of a kid.

Ryuu is about to ask him where he even came from, when the boy’s mouth stretches into an O shape.

“Woooooaaaahhhh,” he gasps, tilting his head to the right to peer around Ryuu, “You have a tail?! That’s so cool!”

Ryuu clamps his jaw shut and swings the tail to his left side, slapping it against his leg. “Yeah, so?”

“I wish I could have one! Can I see it?”

Feeling absolutely bewildered, Ryuu sweeps the fat, yet flexible tail over the grass, back to the side the kid is peering around him at. He can’t help but feel a tug at the corner of his mouth when he snaps open the fan-like frills at the end and his new neighbor’s eyes only grow wider.

“Can I feel it?”

Ryuukoro frowns.

“Is that okay? It looks so soft.”

Slowly, he nods, holding perfectly still. The boy reaches out with one of those tiny hands and brushes his fingers over the black scales with the lightness of a feather.

“What’s your name, anyway?” Ryuu asks.

“Hiccup. Hiccup Haddock,” the boy beams at him, “Dad told me names work differently here, but it’s okay if you just call me Hiccup.”

“Hiccup,” Ryuu sounds out, the sound at the end making an interesting pop in his lips that he’s not quite used to.

“What about you?” Hiccup is still petting the end of his tail gently, running his fingers along the bones in the frills, studying them intently.

“Gekido Ryuuroko.”

“Gekido is your family name, right? Do I have to call you that, or can I call you Ryuu?”

“I--I guess Ryuu is okay.”

Hiccup turns and beams at him. “It’s really good to meet you. I was scared I would be all alone out here.” His smile melts into a look of concentration, his stare as intense as when he was studying Ryuu’s tail.

Ryuuroko finds himself feeling self conscious, bringing his fingers to brush one of the black scales splattered across his face.

“They’re just like mine,” Hiccup says, pointing to the constellations of freckles smeared over his cheeks, his nose, even his forehead, Ryuu notices when the boy’s shaggy brown hair shifts.

“I--I guess.” Ryuu is starting to feel overwhelmed. No one has ever, well, fawned over him before.

“What’s your quirk?” Hiccup is so blunt about it that it catches Ryuu off guard.

His eyes turn towards the grass he’s sitting in, knees drawn to his chest and he wraps his tail around himself once again. “I’m supposed to be a dragon, like Dad. But I just look like this instead.”

Hiccup inches closer to him. “You look like a dragon to me!”

“But I’m supposed to be able to look completely like one,” he mumbles, “I can’t change like Dad can.”

“Maybe you just don’t now how to do it yet!” Hiccup beams at him. “Can you do anything else?”

“I can make fire like Mom. It comes out of my mouth when I sneeze sometimes.”

Hiccup points at his eyes. “When I look at machines and stuff I can figure out how they work! Dad says I’m very smart and I’m just like Mama!” His eyebrows draw in so slightly, Ryuu almost misses it, and they relax almost instantly to be replaced by another shining smile.

“That’s super cool.” Ryuu can’t help but allow a slight grin curl around his lips.

Hiccup peers at him once again. “Toothless? I could have sworn you had--”

Ryuu forces the muscle in his jaw to flex and his teeth snap back into place.

“What was that?!” Hiccup sounds breathless.

Ryuu shrugs. “Dad says its so I don’t hurt myself. It just happens sometimes.”

“I know!” Hiccup claps his hands together. “Instead of calling you Ryuu I’m gonna come up with my own nickname for you! And that means we can be friends! I’m gonna call you Toothless!”

Two pairs of bright green eyes grow wide and Ryuu stares incredulously at Hiccup.

Friend?

Toothless?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm not usually one for prologues, but I felt like a flash back was necessary to set the scene for what I'm trying to do with this AU. This is rather short as far as chapters go, especially for me. Chapter 1 is more than three times as long as this, so don't worry, it won't be short chapters! There just wasn't much more I could add here without clogging it. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Maybe somewhere down the line I'll post what music I've been listening to while writing this.
> 
> Come yell at me on [ my tumblr](http://asinglepale-r-ose.tumblr.com/)


	2. Study-Buddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back!  
> If you're interested, here's a few songs from my playlist that helped me get through this chapter:  
> Dragon Racing-John Powell  
> Like the Dawn-The Oh Hellos  
> Run Boy Run-Woodkid  
> Little Lion Man-Mumford & Sons
> 
> Edit: fixed formatting  
> Edit 2: fixed formatting _again_ ;-;

“Toothless!”

Ryuu snaps into a fighting stance, baring his teeth.

“Fire!”

With a crack, a plank of wood is fired into the air. Ryuu locks on with sharp eyes and opens his mouth, a sharp whine seeping out. A blast of fire shoots from between his teeth and hits the plank with deadly precision, exploding upon impact.

“Three more!” Hiccup calls, adjusting his contraption, firing three more bits of wood of various sizes into the air.

Reacting quickly, Ryuu adjusts his aim, shooting three more blasts into the air. The tops of trees rustle from the aftershock of the mini explosions when the balls of fire hit their targets.

“Coming at you, now!”

A piece of wood is shot straight at him. With no time to dodge, he spins on the ball of one foot and brings his thick, scaled tail around with so much force that it splits the wood upon contact.

The whirring sound of the machine next to Hiccup slows as it powers down. “You did great! Your aim is almost perfection!” His best friend beams at him as he trots over to bump their fists together.

“Almost?” Ryuu sneers, but the soft grin splitting his face shows he doesn’t mean it.

“Oh, come on, we know you couldn’t miss if you wanted to. But you’re still hesitating.”

“I’m _aiming,”_ Ryuu retorts, rolling his eyes. He wraps his arm around Hiccup’s shoulders and ruffles his hair.

“Let’s go inside. Dad said he’d have lunch for us.”

“Done with training already?” Hiccup’s father asks without even looking up from the counter he’s working at when the pair of friends enter through the back door.

Ryuu doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the man’s strange Norwegian accent. Stoic, in general, is rather strange. A mountain of a man with pale skin, bushy, unruly hair the color of autumn leaves and a beard to match, Stoic is a gentle giant, if a bit awkward around the boys. Ryuu has no doubt that, although the man is Quirkless, Stoic would not hesitate to throw himself into the thick of danger if he needed to.

Hiccup pulls up a seat at the table and props his left leg on the chair beside him, hiking up a pant leg. Stoic glances towards Ryuu, his jaw tightening. Ryuu returns the glance from the corner of his eye before turning his gaze to his best friend. He watches in silence as Hiccup unhooks his prosthetic leg from his knee and slides it off, revealing a stump just below the joint. Wordlessly, he sets it on the table and pulls out some bizarre tool and begins tinkering with it, tongue poking out between his lips in concentration.

The pair of friends have rarely talked about it. Childhood curiosity caused Ryuu to ask only once. Hiccup told him he lost his leg the same night he lost his mother but dropped it at that. He has never told him exactly how it happened or when, but Ryuu suspects it is the reason for the sudden move to Japan when Hiccup was only eight. Ryuu can’t even imagine what it must feel like having a constant, physical reminder that his own mother is gone.

“Whatcha workin’ on?” Ryuu finally brings himself to ask, pulling up a seat opposite his friend.

“The spring in the calf compartment is jammed again,” Hiccup mumbles, bending even further over his work, “I need to fix the calibration on it.”

“That’s my boy,” Stoic chuckles as he sets plates of rather hefty looking sandwiches in front of his son and Ryuu, “Aways innovative. Always tinkering. You’re going to pass that exam with ease, I just know it.”

Ryuuroko gratefully receives his own sandwich and begins scarfing it down before Stoic can even offer him a glass of milk.

“Slow down there, Ryuu,” Stoic chides with a gentle fondness in his tone.

“Shooting plasma burns a lot of calories,” Ryuu replies between smacks of his lips and chomps of his teeth.

Hiccup points his tool at Ryuu. “Technically your fire is a mix of acetylene and oxygen.”

“Well I’m not gonna call it an ‘Oxy-acetylene blast.’ That’s a huge mouthful.”

“Speaking of, swallow before you talk to me, you heathen. “

“You’re going to have to be nicer to me if you want a study-buddy.”

“I think you owe me after I built an _entire machine_ to help you work on your aiming.”

Ryuu scoffs. “You just admitted _ten minutes ago_ that my aim is perfect.”

Hiccup rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to spit a retort.

“Alright boys,” Stoic interjects, “Finish your food and you can argue down stairs.”

Ryuu’s only reply is him shoving the remainder of his lunch in his mouth and winking at his friend with a shit-eating grin. He hops up from his seat, deposits his dishes in the sink and moves back to clasp a hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. “C’mon, Hic. It’s your turn.”

Hiccup huffs and shakes his head. He stuffs his tool—Ryuu is convinced he built it himself—in a side pocket of his pants and clips his prosthesis back into place with practiced ease. He hops down from his chair (even at fifteen he’s not yet tall enough for his feet to touch the ground) and, after grabbing his plate, follows Ryuu down stairs into the basement.

Glancing behind him, Ryuu watches his friend hobble down the stairs, taking one at a time. He knows Hiccup doesn’t need his help, but he worries regardless.

Hiccup drops his sandwich plate on a shelf, collapses into a rolling computer chair and pushes off, aiming for a switch. When it’s flipped, fluorescent lights flicker to life. He kicks off the wall to his computer, typing in a passcode and all four monitors blink slightly before they, too, are awake and alert. Another push and he rolls over to a tilted table with a lamp clipped to the side, swipes up a sketch book and pencil and one final push he’s positioned in front of Ryuu and a black duffel bag.

“You nervous about the exam?” Ryuuroko asks.

Hiccup shrugs. “Nah. Mine isn’t as…physically demanding as yours. Not that that’s a problem.” He lifts up an arm to flex. “They wouldn’t be able to handle all of this solid muscle.”

Ryuu lets a chuckle escape. “Villains need tooth picks.”

“What they _don’t_ need is someone who can hack their whole security system or disable their machinery in ten seconds flat.”

“Speaking of which,” Ryuu unzips a bag, “I’ve got a laptop, a broken electric drill, a toaster, and an iPhone with a fried battery.”

“You’re making it too easy for me.”

“You have to get the phone working again.”

“That’s it?”

Ryuu jerks his thumb behind him. “Your dad helped me lug an engine down here. It’s under that tarp.”

Hiccup cracks his knuckles. “Piece of cake. Let’s start with the engine as a warm up.”

“There’s a catch.” Ryuu pulls his phone out and opens a stopwatch app. “You gotta fill out the whole blueprint in under four minutes.”

His friend grins. “No problem.” He drags an old card table toward him and slaps his sketchbook on top. “Ready when you are.”

“Alright, your time starts--” Ryuu yanks the tarp away from the engine and taps the start button his app-- “Now!”

Hiccup puts his pencil to the open page of his sketch book and, with a smirk, turns his gaze toward the engine in front of him. Suddenly, his whole body goes rigid. His eyes widen and nothing on him moves but his left arm and hand, which is furiously sketching. In under 20 seconds, Ryuu can make out a basic outline of the engine. At one minute, finer details have started to appear. Hiccup is drawing with such ferocity that Ryuu wonders how the pencil doesn’t break.

Hiccup’s quirk has always fascinated Ryuuroko, how he receives information from the object he’s looking at and then breaks it down. At first he would just break the item down to its very smallest of parts and then forget it all in a few minutes. It was Ryuu who helped him figure out he could sketch it so he wouldn’t forget.

“One minute left,” Ryuu calls.

Hiccup’s paper is nearly filled to the brim with his sketches, smaller diagrams of the inner mechanisms littering the edges of the page.

“Done!” Hiccup slaps his pencil down on the table and spins his sketchbook around to show his friend.

Ryuu looks down at his phone and taps the stop button on the timer.

Well.

Damn. 

“Three minutes and twenty six seconds,” Ryuu says, breathless, his tail nearly slapping the ground in surprise, “You just drew an entire blueprint of the engine in a Subaru Levorg in under three and a half minutes.”

“I figured out what kind of car it came from about halfway through. How did you even find a Subaru engine?”

“You know that old lady across the street?”

Hiccup leans forward in his chair, pulling a tight frown. “You did not.”

“Nah,” Ryuu chuckles, “Your dad helped me find it in a junk yard. Well, he helped me yank it out of the car. And take it home. And drag it downstairs.”

Hiccup pushes his pencil around on his table, his gaze downcast. “So,” he looks up at his friend, “Are _you_ nervous about your exam?”

Ryuu’s heart sinks at the sudden subject change. “I, uh, I don’t know, Hic.” He runs a finger through his shaggy hair, black as the scales littered across his face.

“Well, I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Hiccup says, heaving himself to his feet and inspecting the engine sitting on the stack of cinder blocks. Ryuu notices his hands beginning to tremble as his friend continues to talk. “Those blasts of yours will have no problem drawing the attention of the judges. You’ve studied hard for the written exam. Your physical aptitude is above av--”

“None of that matters, Hiccup!” Ryuu cries out, tangling his fingers in his hair, balling his hands into fists. “I’m going in on _recommendation!”_ he cries, voice cracking, “They all know I’m the only child of The Night Fury! They’re expecting the debut of a new Dragon hero not some mutant _freak_  that can shoot fire from his _freakish_ mouth!”

“Tooth, I’m gonna be super real with you, alright?” Hiccup approaches his friend and places his hands on his shoulders, seeming unshaken by his friend’s sudden outburst.

Ryuu’s body goes rigid, hands still in his hair but his tail lashing furiously.

“Quirk genetics are, at best, unpredictable,” his friend continues with a soft voice, “No one could have known that your mom’s quirk was more dominant when yours manifested. I know you feel like you have to follow your dad, but know that you can carve your own path when you’re accepted into the Hero course.” He places a hand on Ryuu’s cheek, and their gazes meet, distressed green eyes locking with warm, comforting ones. “You’re not the Night Fury, Toothless. And you’re not a freak, either.”

Ryuu studies Hiccup’s eyes. Such a similar shade to his, and yet so different. The irises are filled with patterns that remind Ryuu of gears and cogs working together to run a machine.

Ryuuroko sighs and backs away, breaking the contact with his best friend. Thoughts swirl in his head, a dark tempest battering the edges of his skull as he tries desperately not to spill his insecurities on the floor of the basement. His teeth sink into his bottom lip and he gives a heavy sigh. “Alright,” he grunts, effectively deciding to drop the subject by clapping his hands together once, “Let’s continue studying.”

Hiccup presses his lips together but nods in agreement. “What’s next?”

“I wanted to see how well you can focus Blueprint on one part of a machine.” Ryuu pulls the laptop from the bag and places it in front of Hiccup. “I don’t want you to break down the whole laptop. Just the motherboard. Think you can do that?”

“I think I can. I’ll need a bigger time limit, though. I’ll have to sort through every bit of info I’m receiving and pluck it out.”

“No time limit. Just prove that you can do it.”

Hiccup stares intently at the computer. When his body stiffens again, his eyes begin to move back and forth, as if he were reading rapidly. Ryuu guesses he’s sorting every piece he’s seeing until he can find what he’s looking for.

Ryuu finds himself admiring his friend again. His quirk, Blueprint, is so unique. He inherited it from his mother. Hiccup could have easily pursued a career in working as an informant for heroes, on call to break down or break into anything the Pro’s couldn’t figure out. Young Hiccup’s fascination with tinkering and gadgets pushed him in another direction, however: UA’s Support Department. There, he could build, tinker, and upgrade to his heart’s content. He is already wicked smart. The written exam is going to be a walk in the park for him, and Ryuu has no doubt he’ll blow the judges away when he showcases just what Blueprint is capable of.

“Alright, got it!” Hiccup says, pushing his sketchbook across the table. “I can show you where it is too.” He flips the laptop over, yanks his multi-tool from his pocket and mashes a button on the side. The tool clicks and spins and the end is replaced by a Phillips head screw driver. In a flash, he has the screws pulled out of the portable computer and the casing pulled off. He rearranges some small parts and yanks out a large green piece with copper colored wires and various bits of metal.

While Ryuu has no idea what anything on that object actually does for the computer, a glance at Hiccup’s sketch shows that he was able to successfully find it and relay that information on the paper, down to the tiniest detail.

They continue Hiccup’s study session like this, having him draw the blueprint for the electric drill and the toaster, then disassembling and reassembling both in record time.

“Alright.” Ryuu slaps the final object down on the table: the fried iPhone. “Now you need to get the battery out of this and figure out how to power it. But you have to build the power source from scratch, got it? You can’t just hook it up to your computer.”

Without a word, Hiccup sets to work. Pushing around in his computer chair again, he pulls various parts and wires from boxes scattered about the basement. Setting them in a heap on his table, he pulls out his multi-tool once again and gets to work.

Ryuu sits back down and waits patiently, watching his friend work, but his tail has snaked around his leg and he’s tapping one of the frills against his ankle--a nervous habit he never grew out of as a kid. He’s tried--really, really tried--to keep his mind off of his own fears for Hiccup’s sake, but he can’t help it. How is he supposed to pass the practical exam when all he can do is shoot fire from his mouth? Sure, they’re explosive but he’s running an obstacle course. Even if his Quirk is helpful at some parts, he can’t move any faster than the other kids taking the exam. He doesn’t exactly stand out.

He peers over the table to watch closer, willing the thoughts out of his mind. Hiccup is clipping wires, connecting them back together, clipping metal pieces to other metal pieces and doing about a dozen other things Ryuu will probably never understand.

“Alright, I think I’ve got it,” Hiccup breathes. He flips a switch on a box the size of his fist, connected by wires to the phone that is now missing its back casing. The pair stare at the screen, Hiccup’s hands balled into fists.

After a few lengthy heart beats, the phone lights up, the Apple symbol displaying proudly on a white screen.

“Yes!” Hiccup cheers, pumping a fist in the air.

A crackling sound draws their attention back to the box. Hiccups eyes widen and he backs away from the table, Ryuu following suit. Smoke rises from the box and, with a loud pop and a spray of sparks, the phone goes dark again.

“Damn,” Ryuu chuckles.

“Write that down,” Hiccup calls, pointing at the first monitor at his computer. A window pops up on a screen and words are quickly scrawled against it. “I think I gave it too much power,” he mutters, more so to himself than to Ryuu, or perhaps even to his computer, “Or maybe it provided juice faster than the phone could handle. Lower to 2.4 for testing…”

“Look, if you wanna stay in here and tinker, I think I might head out for a little while.” Ryuu jerks his thumb towards the stairs. “Mom’s gonna be home from work soon anyway.”

Hiccup nods, bidding his friend farewell but doesn’t look up from his work.

Ryuu stumbles back up the stairs. He says a good bye to Stoic and, without waiting for a reply, makes for the front door. Once outside, he lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Taking in a few ragged gulps of air, he hops down from the stairs and breaks into a sprint. He turns quickly to run through the strip of grass between his and Hiccup’s house, feet skidding in the dirt before regaining his footing and pressing on. Breaking the treeline, Ryuuroko ignores the vines and brush whipping at his shins and ankles and he pushes on around trees and over rocks, holding his arms in front of his face to stop leaves and branches from slapping his face.

His breath coming in violent gasps, Ryuu stumbles back out of the trees and into a clearing, dropping to his hands and knees, straining to suck oxygen into his body. His body still trembles but he allows the thoughts to come rushing back as if he hadn’t just been trying to outrun them.

Images flash through his mind: The first time he made fire, his mother being so proud of him.

His father coming home from work, transforming into a great beast as black as night with wings that could span half their yard.

The beast lowering his neck so Ryuu could climb on and his father can show him the vastness of the sky.

The worried look on both of his parents faces, the way their hands tightened around each others as they watched Ryuu strain for hours to copy his father’s transformation.

An image of his fathers face flashes before him, plain, human, with green eyes and dark hair.

The image shifts to his own reflection. Eyes and hair the same shade but with a wildness about them that isn’t human. Scales splattered across his face like ugly blemishes. A damn _tail;_ his _teeth;_ his _claws._

 _A failure, at best,_ he snarls to himself, _at worst, a fucking freak of nature._

Alone, in a wooded clearing, decorated with scorch marks both old and new, Gekido Ryuuroko is able to release all of his frustration, his hatred, his insecurities, where no one can see or hear him.

Sitting up on just his knees, he lets out a blood curdling _screech_ towards the heavens, gas rising into his throat, heating up and burning, but not hurting, until it ignites behind his teeth. With a force only his own body can tolerate, it shoots from his lips and up into the sky, a blue ball of fire, until it has no more oxygen to consume and explodes in a wide ring of fire.

A single blast doing nothing to curb his emotions, he lets out another at the big stone already covered in scorch marks, then another. They explode upon impact and he turns and hurls one at the ground to his left and one more to his right and then one directly in front of him. It explodes on the ground so close to him that the aftershock blows his hair back, but the flames do nothing.

 _Dragons are fireproof,_ Ryuu remembers his fathers words.

Snarling, he opens his mouth for another blast but the gas that usually pools in the extra sac under his lungs only provides a few puffs that don’t so much as spark.

Hiccup was the one that figured out he has a shot limit. Six full powered powered plasma blasts in under five minutes is how many Ryuu could create before his body needed to cool down and create more of the oxy-acetylene mixture. A huge draw back compared to his mother, he thinks, pulling his lip back to reveal his teeth in a snarl as he flips over onto his back. His mom produces the same type of gas but through her finger tips, and when it ignites, it’s more like a welding flame than an explosive. She’s using less gas per minute than he is. At least, that’s how Hiccup described it.

Ryuuroko truly loves his mother, and is proud of the career in construction she made out of her quirk. She is proud of him as well, but Ryuu knows for a fact that she and his father had been hoping their quirk had mixed to create the ultimate Dragon Hero. Someone to take over when The Night Fury retired.

Instead they got…

This.

Ryuu groans, the corners of his eyes pricking, tears threatening to spill over.

“Not now,” he grunts, scrubbing a hand down his face, careful not to catch a claw on one of his scales, willing the tears back, “Not _ever.”_

He slaps his tail against the dirt three times, snapping the frills open and closed. With a huff, he turns back over on his hands and knees and closes his eyes.

“Come on,” he mutters, flexing the muscles in his shoulder blades, “Change!”

He’s tried everything in the book. Concentration, visualizing, he’s even tried to induce it through fear. Nothing. Nada. Not even a hint of a change.

He flexes the muscles in his back again. “Grow wings, you piece of shit body.”

He strains as hard as he can, as if he could force his body to change shape from sheer will power mixed with muscle.

Come on!

_Come on!_

****_Change, dammit!_ ** **

A heat rises through him as his body trembles and he kind of feels like he’s gonna hurl. He keeps pushing, though; keeps concentrating. Maybe this weird feeling means it’s gonna work this time. He can almost feel wings spreading in the way his back flexes. His tail slaps against the ground as he lets out a guttural scream, sweat beading across his forehead.

Gas ignites in his mouth and shoots at the ground, mere inches from his face. Though he’s not burned, the force of the impact knocks him backwards and he lands on his back, head smacking the ground so hard his teeth click together around his tongue.

Groaning, he rolls over and spits out blood, wiping his mouth with a scowl painted on his face. He sits with his legs crossed, sighs, and looks around at the new scars he’s left in his secret hiding spot.

His meltdown thoroughly culled, a tired Ryuuroko heaves himself to his feet and lumbers home to nurse an oncoming headache.

Just three days until his exam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for this chapter! After editing, this was more than four times longer than the prologue!  
> I'm going to sprinkling tons of references to the HTTYD movies all throughout this fic. Let me know if you find some!  
> I've decided on a loose update schedule. Pretty much, I'm just gonna post some time over the weekends. I work full time and write and edit this in my free time. I have a working buffer I'll try to keep up with so there's minimal breaks.  
> Anyway, I really hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing this!  
> Feel free to yell at me on [ tumblr](http://asinglepale-r-ose.tumblr.com/)  
> Next chapter is the start of the entrance exams! We'll be focusing on Hiccup!  
> Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA!


	3. The Exam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, welcome back! This took longer to post than I intended! Sorry about that. Holidays and all that.
> 
> A few songs out of my playlist that I used for this chapter:  
> Half-QUEEN BEE  
> Where No One Goes-Jónsi  
> Iron-Woodkid  
> Mighty-Lord Huron
> 
> Anyway, I'll ramble more at the bottom. Enjoy!

Hiccup can smell bacon when his eyes flutter open Monday morning. Flipping his blankets off, he swings his legs over the bed, excited about his dad’s cooking. He clips on his prosthesis, adjusting some gears for the shock absorbers and exits his room, deciding to change after breakfast.

He hops down the stairs, following the lovely smell and sizzling sounds coming from the kitchen. “Morning, Dad.”

“Mornin’ Hiccup.” Dad places a hearty plate in front of him, along with a bowl of rice, before ruffling his hair.

Hiccup smiles warmly at him, too embarrassed to say he doesn’t think he can eat all of it. Dad knows this, and knows he’ll try his best to eat it all. They don’t talk about why he always cooks more food than just the two of them need.

“Your big day is today, my boy,” Dad says, sitting in his own chair which creaks in protest.

Hiccup nods with a mouth full of eggs.

Dad’s eyes soften. “Your mother would be so proud of you.”

He swallows not just the eggs, but also the lump growing in his throat. “I know,” he barely manages a whisper, “But I haven’t even passed yet.”

“UA’s Support Department would be foolish to turn you down,” Dad booms, his deep voice growing louder with each word.

“You’re right,” Hiccup chuckles, “Let’s just hope they aren’t foolish, right?”

“When you get your acceptance letter, we’ll be sure to celebrate!”

 _When. Not if,_ Hiccup reminds himself.

Hiccup thinks back to a time when his Dad was a little harsher, a time when he was scared he wouldn’t make him proud. Sometimes, Dad is still loud, but never threatening. Time and grief have softened the edges.

For Hiccup, it’s only sharpened them.

He pushes the thought of resentment away for now. He needs a clear head if he wants control over his Quirk--Mom’s Quirk--and pass the entrance exam today.

A ding signals the dishwasher finishing its cycle, drawing Hiccup’s attention. Breathing deep, he resists the pull in his brain to pick it apart and filter through all of the small parts, pumps and coils.

_You control your Quirk. It does not control you._

The mantra his old therapist would always tell him rings through his head.

Months of therapy, practice and pure stubborn willpower have prepared him for today. There’s no way he’s going to screw this up.

Swallowing down what he can of his plate, Hiccup sets his chopsticks down and hops up from his chair to change.

“Need a ride, son?” Dad asks as Hiccup hops back down the stairs, dressed in a plain green shirt and jeans.

“No Dad,” Hiccup replies, ignoring the way his dad’s eyebrows draw in, “I’d like to walk. It’ll help me clear my head before the test.”

It’s not even that far of a walk. He can make it just fine.

He slips on his shoes, calls out a goodbye to Dad and shuts the front door behind him. He takes a deep breath and sets off down the path from his home. He casts a glance towards Toothless’ house. It’s empty today, his mom at work at a construction site and his elusive father out in some city, doing hero work. Toothless, himself, left an hour earlier to start his own exam.

His neighborhood is spacious, tucked away within a small forested area, where it’s illegal to cut down the trees, but it’s just within the city limits of Musutafu. It takes him no time at all to reach the bustling city with it’s tall buildings and suffocating crowds. Now, it’s just a twenty minute walk to the esteemed academy. The twists and turns he needs to take could be easily confusing if he hadn’t memorized the map to the school all summer long. He shuffles his way in between crowds, mumbling apologies as he bumps into someone, silently hoping a villain doesn’t decide that now is a good time to attack and make him late.

One last turn, and the gates to UA come into view and Hiccup puts a spring in his step, his chest swelling with excitement.

Or is it anxiety?

“Let’s go with excitement,” he mutters to himself.

“Hero course applicants!” Calls a man at the top of the stairs, “Those who are participating in the exam for the Hero Course, please step this way!”

Looking around, Hiccup can see a large chunk of the crowd breaking off to the right, towards the main entrance.

Wow. There are a _ton_ of kids hoping to become heroes.

Movement catches his eye and he turns just in time to see a kid in red shoes trip and fall. Before he hits the ground a girl catches him.

Wait.

She didn’t catch him.

She made him _float._

She helps right him and presses her fingers together and his feet hit the ground. When he looks up to see his savior, his face twitches into a look of terror.

“Good luck, kid,” Hiccup chuckles. That nervous wreck will never make it into the Hero Course.

“Support Department applicants! This way!” Another man, skinny, with huge hands and a helmet shielding his face calls down from another entrance further to the left.

“Well, that’s my queue,” he mutters. He really has a bad habit of talking to himself.

“And mine!”

Hiccup jumps at a shriek right behind him. He turns around and comes face to face with a girl with pink hair.

She leans in close, a huge smile splitting across her face. “Hi! I’m Hatsume Mei!”

“H-Hiccup,” he stammers, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You’re going for the support department, too, huh?” She asks, her voice ringing loud and clear across the courtyard.

“Yeah, I am.”

She presses even closer into Hiccup’s personal space. “Your eyes are just fascinating!”

“Er, thank you. It’s a side effect of my Quirk.”

Hatsume points to her own eyes. “Same here! But that’s a secret for now! You’ll get to see it _if_ you get accepted.”

Hiccup grins. “Well, that goes for you, too. Good luck!”

Together, they make their way into the building with a smaller group of would-be students and are ushered down a long hallway.

“This way, please,” Instructs the teacher pointing with his large hands to a room.

Everyone files into the classroom. Hiccup looks at the chalk board. The words “please take a seat” are scrawled across it in white chalk. He picks an empty seat towards the back and settles in, staring out across the sea of heads before him. He can’t seem to pick out anyone he recognizes from middle school and wonders just how many of these kids aren’t local. It’s not unheard of for students to travel from miles away, just to apply for the top hero school in Japan.

The teacher who had led them in finally enters the room with two more adults in suits trailing in behind him, shutting the door behind them.

“Welcome, students,” he says, “I am Maijima Higari. You may know me better as the Excavation Hero: Power Loader. I am the head of the Support Department and, if you are accepted, I will be your sensei.” He gathers a stack of papers and divides them in half, giving each to the other two men. “You should already know the routine, but as a refresher, we will be doing your written exam first and then your practical exam.”

He gestures to the two men who begin going up and down each row of kids, handing out stacks of paper and books.

“Your practical exam will differ greatly from those who are attempting to enter the Hero Course. Instead of testing your physical abilities, you will be tested in your aptitude in mechanics and engineering, along with an interview and then finally demonstration of your quirk.

“While your quirk does not have to be directly related to the requirements of being in the Support Class, it may gain you headway in your acceptance into the course, if it is.”

When the two men return to the front of the room, Power Loader clasps his hands together. “You have an hour and thirty minutes to complete your written exam. Please be sure to fill out your name and information at the top of your answer sheets. You may begin.” He taps a button on the timer sitting on the podium and the clock on it begins counting down.

Hiccup opens the work book and picks up his pencil, studying the first question. The first part of the packet is math.

He’s got this in the bag.

 

 

“Your time is up. Please put down your pencils.”

Hiccup grins. He had filled out every answer on the test with five minutes to spare. He hands his packet to the kid in front of him as everyone passes their tests forward to be collected. He stretches out his legs under the desk, his back giving a satisfying pop after sitting still for well over an hour.

“Now, if you will come with me,” Power Loader instructs, “We will make our way to the Support hall, where we will begin the first part of your practical exam.”

As a unit, the students rise to their feet and shuffle out of the classroom. As soon as Hiccup passes through the threshold, an explosion sounds off in the distance, rattling the entire building. The kids around him gasp or crouch, covering their heads.

“An earthquake?!” One of them even shouts.

Power Loader sighs and shakes his head. “It’s just the Hero Course starting their practical exam,” he mutters, “I’m just glad they waited until __after__ we finished the written tests.”

Hiccup peers out the window, wondering how Toothless’ exam is going.

 

oOo

 

Ryuu’s written exam had crawled by at an absolutely _agonizing_  pace. His legs are sore and his tail is twitching irritably. He’s ready to run. He’s ready to blast his way through whatever the obstacle coarse throws at him.

He’s just ready to get this over with.

He had gotten a good look at the small group of students who had come in on recommendation. One in particular was easily recognizable. It was hard to miss the mop of half red, half white hair that stuck out like a giant candy cane.

The son of Endeavor: Todoroki Shouto.

The Number 2 Hero’s kid was, of course, recommended to attend UA.

The only other kids here on recommendation were a tall girl with black hair and a boy with spikey blonde hair and teeth that appeared to be growing on the outside of his mouth. There was also a staggeringly tall and built boy who has not dropped his smile at all since he had met up with, and introduced himself to everyone else in the room with a loud, booming voice and exaggerated manners as displayed by his deep bow. Other than him, everyone else carried a very serious expression, void of smiles but not of the determined shine in their eyes.

Ryuu only hoped he could hide the complete _terror_  knocking against his rib cage behind his signature smirk. Couldn’t let them know how inadequate he felt compared to them.

Now the five of them are standing outside, stretching, preparing for the obstacle course. It seemed it would involve sprints, mostly, but the course is littered with opportunities to utilize their quirks to their advantage.

Their biggest disadvantage was not knowing each others quirks.

Ryuu could guess Todoroki’s, of course. Being the son of Endeavor had to mean he had a fire quirk of some sort.

He squats, stretching out his legs. In the distance, loud crashes can be heard, no doubt from the practical exam for the Hero Course. Ryuu finds himself hoping Hiccup’s exam is a lot more tame.

“Alright,” the pro hero, Thirteen walks up to the group, gesturing to the starting line, “Warm ups are over. Please line up here.”

Ryuu takes his place beside the tall girl, falling into a stance as he prepares to run off as fast as he can.

“Remember,” Thirteen continues, their huge white eyes trained on the group, “You may use your quirk by any means necessary to complete the obstacle course, but you can not use it to cause direct harm to the other racers. As you are all here on recommendations, it is highly unlikely that any of you will be rejected, so you are not opponents. This is not so much a race as it is a test of your skills to be sure your recommendations are sincere.”

Thirteen backs away from the group and points a gun towards the sky. “Are we ready?” They call out.

All of the racers brace themselves, and Thirteen fires a blank into the sky with a loud crack. Ryuu pushes off, ready to sprint in an attempt to outpace everyone but he’s blown back by a harsh wind. He picks himself back up in enough time to see the huge kid take off, leaving typhoon level winds in his wake. On the other end of the track, a trail of ice carves its way across the ground, headed by Todoroki.

Wait.

His quirk is _ice?!_

Ryuu files it away as something to worry about later because while he’s still regaining his footing, the kid with the weird teeth is securing himself in third place, breaking into a sprint after the first two. Glancing to his right, the girl has also recovered from the gust and they take off at the same time.

The second his foot touches the ground, it sinks.

“What the--” he gasps, flailing to keep his balance. The dirt has turned into quicksand!

“It’s that guy’s quirk,” the girl grunts, both of her feet caught.

Ryuu sucks in a breath, feeling panic rise into his throat as his leg sinks even lower. He can’t stay upright and he falls forward into the quicksand. He tries desperately to pull himself out, grasping for solid ground.

“Stop moving!” she cries, “You’re just going to sink lower!”

He casts a wide eyed glance towards her and sees the skin on her arm glistening. Suddenly a metal rod with a hooked edge sprouts from the skin and she grasps it with her other hand, pulling it out. Without hesitation, she hooks it into a large stone blocking part of the path and yanks herself out.

Ryuu looks back and forth, eyes wild, trying to find _something_ to grab on to. He hasn’t even started the race yet and he’s already going to fail. His heart can’t seem to decide if it wants to sink into his stomach or continue hammering against his throat.

“Grab on!”

He locks eyes with the girl in disbelief. She’s holding onto the rock and extending the rod to him. He wraps his fingers around it, squeezing as tight as he can. She braces her legs in dips on the stone and, with a loud grunt, yanks on the rod, muscles in her arms and thighs rippling. He feels his feet sliding free from the quicksand and soon enough, he’s safe on solid ground, breath coming in gasps.

“Come on,” the girl says, offering a hand to him to help him up.

Ryuu hesitates, but takes it and heaves himself to his feet. Together, they take off running, hugging the side of the course to avoid more quicksand, pacing each other.

“I’m Yaoyorozu Momo,” she pants.

“Gekido Ryuuroko.” He eyes her from the corner of his eye. “Why did you help me?”

“You heard Thirteen. This isn’t about winning. Just proving yourself. If the other three want to have a circle jerk over who’s the best, let them have it. Todoroki and Yoarashi have been at each other’s throats since they got here.”

“The wind guy?”

“Yeah. He has no sense of personal space, either.”

“What about the other guy?”

“I think Juzo just feels inferior to them because his quirk isn’t as flashy.”

“How do you know them?”

“I did my research. I don’t recognize you though.”

 _Yeah, Dad isn’t exactly public with who I am,_ Ryuu thinks to himself. The cat will be out of the bag eventually, but the anonymity is nice right now. “Late entry,” he mutters.

“Well, either way, if you’re up for it, let’s work together. We just have to finish the course while showing we have an expert handle on our quirks.”

Ryuu doesn’t usually play well with others. But considering Yoayorozu saved his entire ass, he probably owes her. “Fine by me,” he decides, holding out a hand.

She clasps her own hand around his and it’s agreed.

“So your quirk,” Ryuu asks, feeling breathless as they run, “You can like, make stuff?”

Yaoyorozu nods. “As long as I understand the make up of an item, my body can build it, molecule by molecule and it comes out of my skin.”

They stop at a wall of glistening rock.

“Shit,” she hisses.

Todoroki must have frozen the rock on his way over.

“We’re not going to be able to climb that. Our hands will freeze.”

“Think you can make a grappling hook and some rope?”

Yaoyorozu nods and Ryuu approaches the rock. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, a high pitched whine rising in his throat. He wills the gas to not heat up as rapidly as it normally does, and when he opens his mouth, a line of flame leaves it, purples and oranges mixing together as they blast flat against the stone, the intense heat melting the ice and the water slipping off onto the dirt below. He pushes a little harder to extend the flame all the way to the top.

He looks over at Yaoyorozu but quickly averts his eyes. She is holding her shirt open and rope is snaking out of her chest into a pile in the dirt.

“You have a fire breathing quirk?” She asks.

 _Yeah, not exactly something you’d get in with on recommendation,_ Ryuu thinks bitterly. “My body produces a concentrated Oxy-acetylene mixture that gets super heated in my throat and ignites,” he explains, “Usually, it explodes. But if I concentrate, it’ll just come out as a flame.”

“I… could have sworn you had some sort of mutation quirk.” She’s tying the hook to her rope but eying his tail.

He flicks it irritably, feeling self conscious. “The mutation's from my dad. It has its perks, though.” He holds out his hand and she hands him the rope, looking confused.

Giving her a toothy smirk, he runs at the wall of stone and, with a mighty leap, he grabs onto the cracks in the rock with his claws. The rope locked between his teeth, he scales the wall, tailing whipping back and forth for balance. Closer to the top, he realizes it’s more akin to a cliff and heaves himself over, locking the hook into a secure dip in the stone.

He peers over the edge and waves at Yaoyorozu, beckoning her upwards. She nods and grasps the rope, giving it an experimental tug before digging her feet into some footholds and, though slower than Ryuu’s display, pulls herself steadily to the top.

“You good?” Ryuu asks, watching her catch her breath after he helped pull her over the edge.

“Forming objects eats up some of my stamina, so we need to be careful from here on out.”

 _I wish you had said that sooner,_ he bites his tongue around the words, doing his best not to roll his eyes.

“Let’s get moving,” he says aloud, “We’re halfway through the course.”

“We’ve got this,” Yaoyorozu says.

Ryuu wonders if she’s saying that more for herself than for him. He nods, nonetheless. Together, they press on.

 

oOo

 

“Hiccup Haddock, was it? What will you be demonstrating for us today?”

“My quirk,” he says simply to the man in the suit sitting at the table across him.

He had breezed through the practical exam. They had been instructed to put together one of the most basic support items: a utility belt, which required them to choose durable materials for its construction and deciding on pocket sizes and its contents for hero and rescue work.

Easy peasy.

Now, Hiccup surprisingly found himself shaking with anxiety. He’s honed his quirk for years, trying to get a handle on it so he wouldn’t overwhelm himself and then pushing it to its limits. He’s been successful so far, but this is the real deal. The beginning of the rest of his life. If he screws up now…

Well he just can’t screw up.

“Certainly,” the man says, shuffling some papers, “It is called Blueprint? It seems you can identify machinery?” He raises an eyebrow. “Seems quite simple, doesn’t it?”

“It’s a little more complex than that,” Hiccup insists, his face flushing, “When studying a piece of machinery, of any kind, my brain can literally build a blueprint of it.”

“Why don’t we go ahead with the demonstration.” The man folds his hands, still appearing skeptical.

Hiccup gestures to the man’s briefcase. “You have a laptop in there, right?”

“I do.”

“If you pull it out and set a timer, I can draw a blueprint of the motherboard.”

Just like Toothless had him practice.

The man raises his eye brows, but pulls out his portable computer and sets it, closed, on the table. Another proctor hands Hiccup paper and a pencil.

“I can get it done in under five minutes,” Hiccup says, keeping his eyes trained away from the laptop, “Tell me when I can start.”

“Begin.”

Hiccup presses his pencil to the paper and widens his eyes, staring at the laptop. His body goes rigid, a feeling he is finally used to, as he’s suddenly slammed with information. As if his eyes were a computer screen, images start to fly at him. The monitor on the laptop seems to pry itself apart, exposing the wiring inside which also unravels to reveal all of its small parts. As much as he wants to examine it all, Hiccup wills himself to remain focused and moves his eyes from side to side, physically pushing the images away as he digs for what he needs. Amid a pile of keys and screws, Hiccup finds the green board, laden with wires. His hand starts to move as he sketches its shape with erratic movements. With the details sketched in, his eyes pick it apart, peeling back metal pieces to reveal pins and wiring underneath. He mentally pulls it all apart, breaking it into sections that he copies onto the paper he had been provided. He adds some final details, including some labels as his brain processes exactly what each part is, and he lets out a low exhale. All of the images floating in his field of vision sink back into the computer, disappearing from his sight.

Hiccup blinks rapidly and looks up at his proctor, turning the paper around and pushing it towards him.

“I can disassemble your laptop to show you that it matches,” he offers.

 The proctor clears his throat, snapping his jaw shut and shaking his head. “That will be unnecessary.” He gives Hiccup a curt nod. “Thank you, Haddock. That is all we need. You will receive your results in a week’s time. Good luck.” He gestures to the door, thoroughly dismissing Hiccup.

A grin splits across the middle of his face as he rises from his chair. The grin doesn’t leave when he exits the room and nods to the line of students waiting. They may not have said anything about his performance one way or the other, but Hiccup didn’t miss the incredulous stare the proctor had plastered to his face before his quick recovery.

He’s light on his feet as he steps out of the building, carefully descending the stairs, looking for his best friend. It’s been hours. Surely he’d be done with his own exam by now, right?

“Over here.”

Hiccup whips his head around to see Toothless leaning against a pillar. He’s changed back into his street clothes, tight black jeans hanging low to compensate for his tail that’s flicking against his ankle, and his arms crossed over the English logo on his T-shirt. He tilts his head to stare at Hiccup from under his wild black hair, scales glistening in the sunlight. Hiccup’s breath hitches in his throat as he’s reminded of how _feral_ those wide green eyes are.

“How’d it go, Tooth?” he asks, approaching with quick steps.

Toothless rolls his eyes, before his face melts into a look of confusion. “I think I made a friend.”

Hiccup blanches, not expecting that answer in the slightest. “Well, that’s certainly good to hear. We all know how good you are at that.”

Toothless grins, a toothy smile despite his friend’s nickname for him. “Yeah, I seem to have a bad habit of letting people just __insert__ themselves into my life.” He pushes away from the wall and wraps an arm around Hiccup’s neck. “She’s smart like you, too. You nerds sure are morons for trying to keep my company.”

“Let’s get some food, asshole,” Hiccup chuckles, “You can tell me all about it over coffee or something.”

“I’m paying.” He insists.

Hiccup rolls his eyes, knowing that’s a fight he’ll never win.

 

oOo

 

Ryuu loves listening to Hiccup talk. The way he explains things is so articulate and detailed, peppered with exaggerated hand gestures and shoulder shrugs. His dry humor is enough to keep Ryuu engaged, even if he doesn’t understand the quantum-whatevers Hiccup is rambling on about.

Despite this, his leg is bouncing violently under their table. He does his best to keep a neutral expression, hiding every worried thought behind a sip from his mug.

“I mean, if I’m being honest,” Hiccup continues, giving his shoulders an exaggerated shrug, “I was the most nervous about the assessment of my quirk. The guy looked like he was straight out of _Men in Black_. Like I thought I was going to have my memory erased if I figured out too much about UA or something.”

Ryuu nods, flicking his gaze towards Hiccup’s full mug of tea, long forgotten in his nerdish rant and references to hundred-year-old movies.

“But it went way better than I thought!” Hiccup beamed at him. “Your plan worked. I did the motherboard thing and his--” he holds up both hands and wiggles all of his fingers, “--facade just _shattered._ ”

He lets out a breath, placing a hand on his mug, but screwing up his face when he realizes it’s no longer warm. He pushes it away, instead. “So, tell me about yours?”

Ryuu shrugs, stifling a hiss. “It uh--it wasn’t really what I expected.” He finds himself being mostly honest. “It wasn’t really a competition like everyone else’s entrance exams were. They were making sure we weren’t flukes, ya know?”

Hiccup nods, raising an eyebrow, prompting him to continue.

“Yeah, but what _happened,_ Tooth?" he asks when Ryuu doesn't say anything else in favor of studying the table, "Who else was recommended? Any kids from big name heroes? Tell me about the _action._ ” 

“Yaoyorozu was decent. Her quirk’s incredible. It could compliment yours.” He hesitates. “We worked together throughout the obstacle course. The other three were such _dicks_ like, they knew it wasn’t a competition but they _fucking_ had to go and flash their shit for everyone to see like Thirteen wasn’t already aware of why they were here.” He gnashes his teeth together, physically adding bite to his words.

“I’m still surprised you actually worked together with someone,” the brunette breathes, grinning.

Ryuu rolls his eyes. “Well, she helped me first, so I guess I kind of owed her.”

What he hadn’t told Hiccup is that he had come in dead last. Technically, he and Yaoyorozu had crossed the finish line at the same time, but it was her that had come up with all of their clever plans to get through the course. She would instruct him to strike certain points of crumbled stone with plasma blasts to cause it to collapse for them to clamber over, or she’d make another line of rope to cross a chasm. That, coupled with his rocky start and needing help to even get over the starting line, he knew for sure that Gekido Ryuuroko would be the first recommended candidate to not make it into UA High.

Only one week until the news was officially broken to him.

Then he’d have to explain that to Father.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again for reading!  
> I just want you all to know that I do have a plan for this and an endgame in mind. As a heads up, the direction I'm taking with this follows the canon timeline at least up until the Hosu Incident before it branches off on its own. I need the sports festival, USJ, and Hosu all for plot. Mostly to torture my human!toothless.
> 
> Also, please know: this chapter was written before Setsuna Tokage was revealed to be a student who got in on recommendations. That's why she's not in here.  
> A lot of what happens in this chapter is purely speculation. Not much is said about the UA entrance exams except for the one for students specifically aiming for the Hero Course. I think it's safe to assume that students aiming for other departments would have different practical exams.  
> Not much is said on what the recommended students have to do in their obstacle course, but I just assumed since all of the recommended students got accepted that it wasn't actually a race and went off of that.  
> If any of this is confirmed or denied in the canon, this chapter will probably not be changed.
> 
> I'm going on vacation in a few days, so no promises on an update next weekend, but it will be for sure posted no later than two weeks from today.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, either here or on [ my tumblr ](http://asinglepale-r-ose.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Next chapter, we'll see the results of the entrance exam! I wonder how Ryuu did?  
> Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!!


	4. Can I Go Home Yet? (How a Dragon Deals With Social Anxiety)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry I took so long to get back!  
> A couple songs that helped me get through this chapter:  
> Test Drive-John Powell (First httyd movie)  
> Hearts Like Ours-Naked and Famous  
> More on my brief hiatus and updates at the end of the chapter.   
> Thanks for reading!

Hiccup tears out of his room and flies down the stairs at a much faster pace than he normally would if he weren’t so excited. He rushes towards the door and plops himself down by the mat to tug his sneakers on.

“Hiccup, where are you going?” His father calls from the kitchen. “I’m making food to celebrate!”

“I’m gonna go see if Toothless wants some!” He hollers back. “If I got my letter, that means he got his!”

Indeed, this morning, Dad had pounded on the basement door and when Hiccup opened it, an envelope had been shoved into his hands. Together, he and Dad crowded around his desk as Hiccup practically ripped the envelope open and a tiny disk-shaped object clattered onto the wood. The device flickered to life and, in the gloom of the basement, a projection beamed from it, revealing a recording of All Might, himself. As he congratulated Hiccup in a booming voice fit to rival Dad’s, Hiccup felt himself being lifted from his chair. Dad yanked him up, wrapping his beefy arms around him and spinning him around. Usually, Hiccup would hate this. But this morning is an exception.

He had done it.

Hiccup Haddock had officially been accepted into UA High.

 

Toothless’ mom isn’t home. Neither is his dad. It’s not unusual, but Hiccup wonders if today would have been a good day for both of them to take off of work. He shakes the thought away as he knocks on his friend’s front door.

There’s no answer.

Hiccup looks around. Did Tooth go somewhere? He knocks again.

When there’s still no answer, Hiccup just tries the doorknob, pleased to find it unlocked. He lets himself in the house, kicking off his shoes.

“Tooth?” His voice rings about the large home. “Where are you, bud?”

He glances around. The house is way bigger than his own, decorated in a traditional Japanese style, complete with _tatami_ in the main rooms and authentic _shoji_ dividing the rooms. With a peek down the hall, Hiccup can see parts of their impressive kitchen, inspired more by western styles.

Hiccup calls out to his friend once more as he moves to the stairs and peers up to the dark landing. “Toothless?”

Still no answer. Hiccup sighs. Starting up the stairs, Hiccup wonders again if his friend is even here. And if he’s not, where could he be? Once on the landing, he has a clear view of his friend’s bedroom door, cracked with a low light spilling into the hall.

Hiccup carefully pushes the door open.

“Bud?”

Peering around the room, he spots a figure in the back corner, curled up at the desk chair, his knees pulled to his chest, black hair as wild as ever. Toothless is staring at the envelope sitting on his desk, his mouth pulled down in a tight scowl.

“There you are,” Hiccup breathes.

Toothless huffs out an odd mix of a grunt and a sigh, equally as grumpy as it is distressed.

“What’s wrong, bud?”

Toothless nods at the envelope, fixing Hiccup with a piercing green stare without even having to fully turn his face towards him.

“You haven’t even opened it yet?”

A long stretch of silence, only broken by pounding hearts.

“I’m going to be the first recommended student not accepted to UA.”

Hiccup drops his shoulders, not realizing how tense they were. “Toothless. Ryuu. It’s going to be fine. You’re wonderful. I’m sure you don’t have anything to worry--”

“I came in dead last in that obstacle course.”

Oh. Hiccup clamps his jaw shut. He hadn’t known that. There had only been a few recommended students. Surely, they weren’t actually competing for limited spots, were they?

“Thirteen said it was only a test to make sure we weren’t flukes. But that’s the problem, Hic. I am a fluke.”

The corners of Hiccups eyes prick, and he wills tears not to come. Not right now, when his friend needs him. Toothless is always so confident--while in action, while around others. But when he’s alone, and, rarely, when he is around Hiccup, he’s a self-conscious mess, always comparing himself to his father, always brimming with anxiety. Never feeling good enough.

To tell the truth, Hiccup wishes he could just hold his friend against him and tell him it’ll be alright. But the black-haired boy doesn’t like that. He doesn’t like to be coddled like a child. He knows Toothless will listen to blunt honesty, though, even if it takes some convincing.

“Toothless,” he starts, turning the desk chair around so they’re face to face, “You don’t have to be like your dad. You have a long-ranged explosion type quirk with such deadly accuracy it’s like you physically _can’t_ miss. To top it off, you have a mutation that makes you a sharp-edged weapon at close range. You’re more amazing than you think.”

Toothless is staring at him with those wide, wild green eyes. They almost seem to glow in the gloom of his bedroom. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to. Hiccup can read his eyes like an open book. He can pick him apart like using his Quirk on a car engine. Those eyes are brimming with fear, anxiety, and maybe a touch of rage, but not tears. Never tears. Not in front of Hiccup, at least.

“Come on,” he insists, “Let’s open this up and see what’s waiting for you.”

His best friend nods and uncurls himself from his fetal position in the chair. With a gentle claw, he lifts the envelope and tears it open. A device similar to Hiccup’s slithers out and clatters to the wood. The pair exchange a glance and Hiccup nods. Toothless presses the button and the device springs to life, illuminating the dim room with its hologram.

“Young Gekido!” All Might booms out Toothless’ family name as soon as his image sharpens. “I am here! As a hologram!”

Toothless rolls his eyes but continues watching.

“A week ago,” the Number One Hero continues. “You participated in the obstacle course meant for the recommended students! Let’s go over how that went, shall we?” He clicks a remote and a screen flares to life behind him, where the pair can see Toothless running next to a girl with long black hair pulled back. “Unexpectedly, you and young Yaoyorozu teamed up to get through it together. It was very clever, especially going against other kids with equally as powerful Quirks! You were both off to a rocky start.” The video flashes to Toothless sinking in mud at the starting line. “But Yaoyorozu showed compassion in helping you out when you had no way to help yourself. In return, you agreed to cooperate, even though it was never expected of you. You both may have finished last but,” The film changes again, showing Toothless and the girl working together to make it over a huge rock wall. “That was not the point of the exercise. What _was_ the point, was showing how well each individual handled their Quirk, even with little training, and us as the faculty deciding on how capable you all were of becoming heroes yourselves one day. You, young Gekido, showed perseverance, and patience while working with Yaoyorozu, willing to encourage and help her when she needed it. You were both able to come up with plans to make it through, despite you both being in last place, despite the air of competition your peers created with their explosive start. You two showed something the other three did not: teamwork and cooperation. Hero work is not about being the best. It is about getting the job done and doing it right. You have both proven yourselves more than capable. You both have--What?” All Might breaks off and looks off camera. “Running out of time? You said that with the last one I made!” He huffs and fixes Toothless with that iconic smile again. “What I am saying, young Gekido, is that I am pleased to announce your acceptance into the Hero Course: Class 1A at UA High! Congratulations! In a day’s time, you will receive a pamphlet with everything you will need to prepare you for your classes in the spring! Welcome to your hero academia!”

The hologram clicks off. Hiccup has to stop himself from shaking with excitement. He turns to his friend.

“Tooth?”

“I did it.”

Hiccup almost doesn’t catch what the other boy mutters.

“I’ve really done it. I made it to UA!”

Hiccup beams at him and grabs him by the shoulder, finally pulling him into a hug. “I knew you could! I’m so proud of you!”

Toothless pulls away just enough to look down on him. “Please tell me you made it, too.”

“What do you think, genius?” Hiccup can’t help but smirk.

The black-haired boy wraps his arms around his shorter friend. “We did it,” he breathes, a laugh shaking his thin frame against Hiccup’s body.

“We really did, bud.”

 

oOo

 

Spring has arrived and Ryuu is Not Fucking Ready for this. Sure, he has his backpack, papers, pens, everything he needs to start the school year off prepared. But mentally? Hell no. Who else got into 1A? He’s not interested in making friends. He just has no idea what other kinds of kids to expect; who he will be competing with. Surely at the most elite hero school in the country, these kids will be a force to be reckoned with. The best of the best.

Is he even worthy to be among them?

He had been agonizing over this as the first day of school had drawn near. Was he really that good, or had it been a mistake that he had been let in? Was All Might right in that he showed skill in working as a team to be a hero? He wanted this more than anything. He has tried convincing himself that he _has_ to be good enough in order to not only be recommended, but accepted to UA.

“Are you almost ready, dear?” His mom peaks into his room. Gekido Yosetsu is a tall but built woman, her hair just as wild as her son’s but paler than his is dark. Her bright orange work vest flashes in the hall light.

“Yeah mom,” he sighs, finally slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Stoic said he’ll take you to school today,” Mom says, letting herself in his room to smooth out his blazer. “I would take you myself, but I’m needed at the office. You know how they are. That place would burn down if it weren’t for me.”

“I can fix my own tie,” Ryuu mumbles. He swats Mom’s hand away and tightens his red tie against his neck, swallowing, his throat rubbing against it like it’s a noose. This dress code is ridiculous. He’s in the _hero course._ Aren’t they going to be spending all their time physically exerting themselves and blowing shit up?

Mom sighs and steps back, not at all satisfied with how her son looks, but she smiles, nonetheless. “I’m proud of you,” she murmurs.

Ryuu stares at his shoes. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Your father is proud of you too.” She places a hand on his shoulder. “He said he’ll try to call tonight to hear about your first day if he can get away from his case for long enough.”

Father is away on yet another business trip, scouring the northern most Russian tundra for an escaped convict from a maximum-security prison. He’s almost always called on cases like this, his wings and scales allowing him to safely cover the most ground out of many of the top heroes. He rarely does local work but insists on being based out of Japan so his family wouldn’t have to travel with him. It doesn’t bother Ryuu, much. At least that’s one less parent to stare at him sadly because he never met their expectations.

His grip tightens around his bag strap. He’ll show them. They can be proud of him even if he can’t sprout wings like his father. Hiccup’s right. His mom’s quirk is powerful, especially now that it’s his. His mutation makes him a formidable foe up close. Yeah, he can’t fly, but he can fight tooth and nail and blow up whatever he can’t shred.

A car horn blares from outside the house.

“That’s Stoic and Hiccup, baby,” Mom says, smiling at him again. She holds her arms out for a hug, which he leans in to, stiff as a board.

There’s only a few people Ryuu is comfortable hugging. His mom is not one of them.

“Knock ‘em dead, Ryuuroko.”

He doesn’t say anything, but Ryuu offers up a small smirk. He waves to his mom and flies down the stairs before she can say anything else. Before he knows it, he’s in Stoic’s car, behind Hiccup and they’re on their way to their first day at UA.

 

Despite seeing it once before, UA’s campus is much bigger than Ryuu expected. And not just in square-footage. The structures themselves are _massive_ with high walls, tall and wide doorways and huge arches throughout the halls. It’s likely to accommodate students of all shapes and sizes.

He doesn’t pass many students as he walks the halls of the campus, searching for classroom 1A. He and Hiccup had split up in the courtyard, Hiccup beaming at him and wishing him luck with so much sunshine in his smile that Ryuu could feel his chest swell.

Soon, he’s face to face with a large sliding door. The plaque next to it reads “1A.” He huffs. This must be it. He reaches for the handle and freezes, listening to the faint chatter from within.

Of course there’ll be people on the other side, you idiot, he thinks furiously to himself. _You aren’t being home schooled anymore._

His hand retreats to run through his hair, his talons barely grazing his scalp. He can do this. Don’t be a fucking coward. There’s an awful clenching in his gut. Which hopeful heroes-to-be will he be sharing a class with? Who was picked out of the crowd of kids competing in the entrance exams? There’s only one way to find out.

He really doesn’t want to find out.

Ryuu hisses to himself. Of course he wants to find out. He won’t get any further if he doesn’t. Before he can stop himself, he reaches towards the handle again and slides the door open.

The room is sparser than he had expected. The clock on the wall reminds him of just how early Stoic had dropped them off. He suddenly finds himself wishing Hiccup hadn’t been so desperate to dash off to his own classroom. He could have hung around his friend some more to calm his nerves. Ryuu swallows thickly, taking in the room. The few kids in there had split into groups to socialize, but he didn’t recognize any of them. Ryuu almost turns tail.

“Hey, man!”

The small group closest to them had halted their chatter in favor of staring at the newcomer. The kid who spoke has red hair nearly as wild as his own. His mouth is pulled into a wide grin, showing off a set of impressive shark-like teeth. Ryuu runs his tongue over his own.

“It’s good to meet you!” He chirps and jerks a thumb back at himself. “I’m Kirishima Eijirou!”

“Kaminari Denki!” Introduces another kid, this one with a shock of yellow hair, a black stripe slicing through his bangs.

“My name’s Sero Hanta,” adds the kid with black hair and a wide grin.

Ryuu clamps his jaw shut, shifting his eyes between them as they stare at him expectantly.

Hello, freak, wake the fuck up and remember how to act like a human person.

“Gekido Ryuuroko,” he mumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Gekido!” Kirishima beams. It’s almost stupidly blinding.

He pauses. “Just Ryuu is fine.” Not leaving room for the three boys to say anything else, he shuffles to his assigned seat, the row closest to the window, one up from the back, just like his paper had said.

“ _Dude did you see that_ wicked _tail?!”_ he can hear Kaminari hiss as he brushes past.

Feeling self conscious, he sinks into his seat and tucks his tail under him to wrap around his ankle. He rests his head in his hands.

He can do this.

Suddenly, Ryuu bristles at the sense of a presence looming over him. His head snaps up, wild eyes locking with bespectacled ones.

“Hello!” The tall guy bellows, bowing. “As a fellow student of Class 1A, I felt I should introduce myself! I am Iida Tenya, a former student of Somei Private Academy!”

God, is every kid in this class so _loud?_ Ryuu grits his teeth, ready to bite out his name once again, just to get the guy off his back. He opens his mouth but is interrupted.

“I don’t recognize you. I didn’t see you at the entrance exams! Were you in a different group, perhaps? Or a late entry?” Iida peers at him from over the rims of his glasses.

“Ryuu. I’m in on recommendation. Stop interrogating me.” His tail squeezes tighter around his calf.

Iida opens his mouth, about to give a response, when the door slides open and shut again. He immediately forgets what he is doing and marches over, introducing himself to the new comer.

Ryuu sighs, slouching lower into his seat, casting a glance to whoever his savior is. Then he deflates, dismayed.

It’s fucking _Todoroki._

Of course that snobbish asshole would be in his class. He watches the half-red-half-white guy mumble something to Iida before scooting to his seat in a similar fashion to Ryuu, sitting too close for comfort, diagonally behind him.

One by one, more kids filter in and the room begins to get more and more crowded. Not very many of them catch his attention as they introduce themselves and find their seats. Ryuu only hopes sitting in the corner with a brooding expression will keep everyone away, kind of like they do in manga. His tail fins flick open and closed as he waits for class to start.

Why did he think jumping right into classes like this after an entire life of home schooling was a good idea?

At one point, a familiar face enters the room. She politely introduces herself to people as she passes them before stopping at his desk and smiling.

“Gekido,” she beams, “I’m glad to know you’re also in my class.”

“Yaoyorozu,” he grunts in greeting. “Just Ryuu is fine.”

“I don’t think we’re on that level already.” She almost looks embarrassed as she takes her seat.

Ryuu shrugs. “Formalities ain’t important. I don’t like others to know me by my family name.”

A brief flash of recognition passes through her eyes and Ryuu knows he’s been found out. This girl wasn’t stupid during the exam and she certainly isn’t now.

If Yaoyorozu does understand what he means, she doesn’t show any more signs of it. “I understand,” she states, “In that case, how about you call me Yaomomo.”

Ryuu raises his eyebrows. He had her pinned as more formal than nicknames.

“That way, it isn’t weird.”

Of course. She really is damn smart.

Yaomomo opens her mouth to say something else but is cut off.

“ _Remove your foot from that desk!”_

They both turn their heads in the direction of the screeching.

“It is disrespectful to the students of UA who came before you and to the hard work that went into crafting the desk!” Iida is towering over an ashen blond kid, waving his hands in his face, a tight frown tugging at his cheeks.

The blond sinks lower into his chair, crossing his feet (“disrespectfully” on the desk) over one another. “Like I give a damn,” he sneers, his bottom lip curling into a pout.

They continue to bicker, but the door grabs their attention. Iida stops mid-sentence and marches towards the door, similar to how he had done to Ryuu and the blond guy’s mouth twists into a snarl.

Ryuu glances at the nervous looking boy with curly green hair at the door and then back at the explosive blond, watching his hands crackle and pop. Narrowing his eyes, Ryuu wonders what it is about the curly haired kid sets him off so much.

Looking again at the boy being bombarded by Iida’s introduction and then by a girl with brown hair and a round face, a wave of recognition crashes over Ryuu as he takes in the wide eyes and cheeks full of freckles. Whoever this is, he reminds him of Hiccup.

The more kids that appear, the louder the room gets, and honestly, Ryuu just wants to go back to bed.

“If you’re here to socialize, then get out,” calls a voice from the door.

From his corner of the room, Ryuu can’t see what’s going on, but he can hear the gravely voice muttering and he can definitely see the kids closest to the door bristling in surprise. The kids back up as a figure rises to loom over them, cloaked in a puffy yellow sleeping bag, which slides from his body, revealing stringy black hair and a lanky form.

“It took you all a full eight seconds to quiet down.” His eyes rake across the room, remaining tired but otherwise emotionless, not resting on any particular student. “Time is a precious resource.” He shuffles to the front of the room as the students remain rigid. “I am Shouta Aizawa, your homeroom teacher. Pleased to meet you.”

Ryuu almost recoils. There is no way the unkempt guy is their _homeroom teacher._

“Now quickly. Change into your gym clothes.”

 

Ryuu trails behind the rest of the class as they make their way outside. Aizawa is explaining what they’ll be doing, throwing in some jab about the hero students not needing to attend the opening ceremony. He almost finds himself grateful that he doesn’t have to sit through all of that. As Aizawa continues Ryuu4 begins to grow a little excited. These gym clothes might be itchy, but they’re going to be starting with physical aptitude tests. Unlike in their middle school years, they could use their Quirks.

When he saw him in the classroom, Ryuu had no idea what to make of the ash blond kid, Bakugou. He seemed abrasive when talking to Iida, but then, so was Ryuu when he was being harassed in the first few seconds of being in the room, so anyone would, right? But as Aizawa tosses him a softball, he sees a wicked sneer split his face in half and, Ryuu realizes this asshole is just a show off. Some shit head who got into an elite school and thinks he’s better than everyone else. This is just confirmed when he readies his windup and he blasts—literally, it just _explodes_ —the ball from his hand like a bullet.

The sound is familiar, but there’s not much of an aftershock. Ryuu chuckles to himself, knowing for a fact that his own blasts are way stronger than that.

“You think this is all fun and games?” Aizawa’s rasp cuts through the kids’ cheering. “The one who scores the lowest will be _expelled._ ”

Ryuu’s smile falters.

What?

“Th-that’s not fair!” Shrieks the brunette girl, Uraraka.

“The world of heroes and villains isn’t fair. We’re here to right the wrongs and _make_ it fair. If you think the next few years is going to be leisurely, you’re in the wrong school. We’re going to run you through the wringer.” Aizawa smirks. “That’s Plus Ultra. Use your strength to overcome it.”

Ryuu is still dazed with Aizawa’s threat as he lines up for the 50-meter dash. He shakes his head to clear his mind and grits his teeth as he watches kids make the dash in twos. At his turn, he doesn’t even glance to see who he’s paired with. He just coils his tail beneath him and shoves it against the ground, giving him a leaping head start.

“5.35 seconds.” The robot besides him beeps as he crosses the line.

Huh. Shaved off almost two seconds from last year.

As they blow through all of the physical tests, familiar, and yet so much easier, Ryuu watches as his classmates get creative with their Quirks to help them make impressive improvements to their scores from previous years. Everyone, that is except for—well—why isn’t that Midoriya kid using his quirk? Does it not match up with any of these tests?

_I haven’t exactly used my quirk yet, either,_ Ryuu reminds himself. He’s just been using his mutation to his advantage. The pure muscle in his tail has really helped with the long jump and side step.

After an impressive showing of Uraraka’s quirk clocking an “infinity” on the softball throw, Ryuu finds the perfect opportunity to show off his explosive power. It may not toss the ball directly into the void like the zero-gravity girl, but he knows at least one explosive kid he can show up.

He doesn’t even remember being worried about these tests.

“Remember the rules,” Aizawa mutters in a dismissive tone, “Use your quirk however you want. Don’t step out of the circle.”

This is going to be the easiest one, yet. Ryuu tosses the ball in one hand a couple times. He smirks in the direction of the other kids and gestures with a finger into the distance, much like an American baseball player from long, long ago. Ryuu might be a self-conscious mess ninety percent of the time, but when he knows he can succeed, he relishes in the confidence.

He tosses the ball into the air, as high as it’ll go. His eyes pinpoint its exact location, calculating its downward path. A high-pitched whine rises in his throat and ignites in the most powerful blast he can muster. The blue and purple fireball hurtles towards the softball, making contact at such a perfect angle that the ball is knocked forward, carried further by the aftershock of the explosion.

He watches until he can’t see the ball past the trees anymore and turns with a cocky grin towards Aizawa. The home room teacher still looks as unimpressed as he did with all the other kids, but he raises the device to show his score:

711.4 meters.

“Piece of cake,” Ryuu coughs out around the remaining gas in his throat. Hands in his pockets, he shuffles back to his spot next to Yaomomo. “That’s how you measure an explosion to make the most out of its momentum,” he mutters to her, tilting his head and glancing at Bakugou to make sure he saw.

And he saw, alright. Bakugou’s jaw tightens and his fists clench around a few small explosions.

“What do you think you’re trying to pull— “

“Next is Midoriya.”

Bakugou’s attention is suddenly yanked from Ryuu’s gaze and onto the freckled boy skittering to the circle. His face twists into an even uglier scowl than Ryuu thought was possible.

Midoriya’s expression turns from fear to a fiery determination, something that Ryuu knows he’s seen plastered on a freckled face before. He winds up his pitch and Ryuu holds his breath, wondering if he had the same plan, saving his quirk for when it would fit best. What kind of Quirk does a small fry like him have, anyway?

_Come on!_ Ryuu silently cheers, much to his own surprise.

A heavy weight drops down on the class with the thud of the softball, only a few dozen meters in front of the green haired boy.

Aizawa mutters something at Midoriya, his eyes wide, hair wild. Midoriya melts, his eyes full of disdain, lips wobbling, but with a shake of his head, that determination is back, as if whatever Aizawa has said to him doesn’t affect him one bit.

“You can have your Quirk back,” Aizawa mutters, “Give it another go, but make it quick.”

Midoriya takes aim once more, and this time when he throws the softball it shoots straight into the air, a projectile hurtling into the distance. With a glance, Ryuu sees the distance clocked on Aizawa’s device: 705 meters.

“That’s why Aizawa-sensei stopped him before,” Yaomomo breathes.

Ryuu follows her gaze to Midoriya, who’s holding his right arm tenderly. His finger is discolored and bent at an awkward angle. His face is twisted in pain but he’s still carrying that fierce smile.

“His Quirk hurts his body,” she continues, “What is he thinking, entering the hero course when he still doesn’t have control over his Quirk?”

 

“Toothless! Over here!” Hiccup waves his hand at Ryuu from across the cafeteria.

After an explosion from Bakugou, directed at Midoriya and Aizawa revealing he’d been lying about expelling students, the teacher had dismissed them all for lunch and escorted the green haired boy to the infirmary.

“I didn’t see you at the ceremony,” Hiccup says as Ryuu approaches the table, flanked by Yaomomo.

“Aizawa-sensei had us skip it to test our physical abilities with our Quirks,” Momo answers before Ryuu could.

“Hey, there,” his best friend beams, “I’m Hiccup.”

“Yaoyorozu,” she introduces, “It’s good to meet you.”

“Oooh, you’re that girl Tooth told me about from the exam.” Hiccup gestures for both of them to sit with him.

Ryuu kicks his friend in the shin as a blush rises up Momo’s face.

“What, uh, what did he have to say about me?”

“He just went all ‘Grrr I’m dark and broody, why would anyone wanna be friends with me?’” Hiccup chuckles, deepening his voice to mimic Ryuu’s.

“Fucking spare me,” Ryuu growls, baring his teeth.

“Yeah, like that!” Hiccup’s chuckle breaks into a full laugh. “Don’t worry, Toothless is easier to handle when you get to know him better.”

“I’m just grateful I knew someone in class on the first day. At least someone who’s willing to talk to me.” Momo digs her chopsticks into her rice before continuing. “What’s with the nickname, if you don’t mind me asking? As far as I know he’s not quite…well, toothless.” She draws a jagged line in front of her mouth, referencing the sharp chompers Ryuu has hiding behind his lips.

Oh god. Here we go.

Ryuu sinks into his chair.

“Oh, you’ll never believe it unless he shows you.” Hiccup points at his friend with his own pair of chopsticks. “When we first met, I thought he didn’t have any teeth. C’mon, Tooth, do the thing.”

Ryuu rolls his eyes. “Fuck. No.”

“Come on! Please?” Hiccup begs, “It’s not as cool if I just _tell_ her.” He bats his eyes at Ryuu who just huffs out a tiny gust of flame in return.

He looks back and forth between the two, Yaomomo looking at him expectantly, and Hiccup pouting his lip.

Fucking hell. “Ugh. Fine. Only once.”

Hiccup hisses in victory.

Feeling heat stain his cheeks from behind his scales, Ryuu opens his mouth, curling his lips back to expose his teeth. He clenches the muscles in his jaws and his teeth retract into the gums and then push back out to where they belong.

“You have—“ she gasps.

“Retractable teeth!” Hiccup finishes for her. “Isn’t that cool? We haven’t figured out what it’s for, yet.”

Ryuu groans. “For the record, no one else is allowed to call me Toothless. Ever.”

Yaomomo looks thoughtful for a moment. “You shoot fire from your mouth, right? It’s explosive. Can that reflex be involuntary?”

Hiccup nods, catching her meaning. “Neither of us have checked to see what his teeth do while he’s firing. Maybe it’s to protect him from the force?”

Rolling his eyes, Ryuu crosses his arms and sinks into his chair again. Can they not nerd out about his Quirk like he isn’t right there?

“So anyway,” Hiccup hums around a bite of his lunch, “A physical test? Isn’t that what the entrance exam is for?”

“It was like those ones we had when we were younger,” Ryuu explains, arms still crossed, “Except we were actually allowed to use our Quirks.”

“No kidding. How did that go?”

“Fun, honestly,” Ryuu huffs from behind a mouthful of noodles.

“I felt like I was cheating, making exactly what I needed to improve my score in those tests,” Yaomomo whispers.

Hiccup pauses mid bite. “Explain.”

“My Quirk,” she starts with a blush, bashful at the thought of explaining herself, “I can make pretty much whatever I need.” She gestures to her plate, which is piled with food. “It eats up a lot of calories, though.”

Hiccup slaps his hands on the table. “No. Way.”

She giggles. “Within reason, of course. I need to understand everything I make down to a molecular level.”

“So basically, like. Anything? Anything you want. You just have to study it for a little bit?”

Yaomomo nods.

“That’s--that is so cool?” Hiccup’s voice hitches so hard it cracks. “Are there limitations? I’m assuming it comes out of your skin, right? You need to take surface area into account? Do more complicated items require a certain diet?”

Ryuu slurps up the rest of his noodles and slumps back into his chair, forgotten. He’s moving “stop making friends with nerds” to the top of his to-do list.

He does smile, though, as his friends continue raving about their days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the first time I've ever edited something and ended up with less words than I started with. Almost 100 words less than the first draft. But it was for the better. I did a lot of revising with this chapter and the next because I felt really weird just kind of chronologically following the manga. Eventually I got over it and did it anyway because it's necessary to progress Hiccup and Ryuu's story. Basically, for now it will follow the major timeline with changes to details because this is an AU and things will happen differently with Ryuu in class 1A.  
> I have decided I'll be posting every other Saturday. I have a four chapter buffer and 2/3 of the whole story outlined. Posting every other week will help me keep up with that.  
> Ryuu's mom's name, Yosetsu, means "weld." I like to stick to Horikoshi's theme of people's names being puns.  
> Anyway, thanks so much for the words of support when I had said I needed a break! I'm sorry I didn't reply to any of the comments I had received but I knew I needed to delete that update to make this one and it would take the comments with it. I really appreciate all of you understanding!  
> Next chapter, the hero training really begins. Ryuu's not sure if they're even ready.  
> Thanks again for reading! Please let me know what you think and I'll see you in two weeks!  
> Plus Ultra!


	5. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops I didn't get to post yesterday like I meant to. Work an all that. Sorry about that.  
> Here's some jamz:  
> Wolf in Sheep's Clothing-Set It Off  
> I Was King-ONE OK ROCK  
> Make a Move-Icon for Hire
> 
> Edit: ayyyyy I hit 69 kudos

Days continue like this. Classes follow a fashion similar to how Hiccup had always described to Ryuu when he was in middle school. It’s surprisingly…normal. And yet, every day is different. As teachers rotate in and out, there’s Mathematics, English, History, and even art. The last period of the day, a seventh class reserved only for the Heroics department, is when it gets interesting, a bit of action peppered into their otherwise “ordinary” school day. 

With lunch over and students shuffled back into their classrooms, Aizawa-sensei stands before 1A.

“For today’s basic training,” he mumbles, tired expression barely visible from beneath strings of black hair, “All Might, myself, and one other will be supervising. To prepare you for disaster relief, today is the day we begin Rescue training.”

The class erupts into a humming chatter, each kid trying to talk over the other as they comment about their excitement or worry.

Ryuu would like to join in, but finds himself wondering if they’re even ready. School  _ just  _ started and they’re expected to rescue people? Although, a lot  _ has  _ happened in the last few days. Their first official day of school, All Might himself put them through intense battle training. UA is fast paced, indeed. Before they knew it, Ryuu and the rest of the class were in their self-designed hero costumes and in a training arena, being divided up into pairs by All Might.

The wild-eyed student had picked at his sleeves, looking himself up and down in the mirror on the wall of the locker room, an even mix of scrutiny and admiration of his own design coming to life. The suit was simple: a long-sleeved jumpsuit black as pitch, black as his own scales. Fastened against the suit were plates of armor, molded from carbon fiber to create shoulder pauldrons, a chest plate, anything to protect the weakest points while he fought in close quarters. A gloved hand ran along the plates, feather light, fingering the design inspired by the plates of scales across his own skin. Fingers found the wrist guards, adorned with spikes sharpened to a point, a design that had been solidified at Hiccup’s insistence. Something about needing a backup weapon, just in case.

Other than Midoriya and Bakugou’s apparent rivalry, and that  _ damn _ Todoroki showing off, this exercise had gone smoothly. One group acted as villains and the other, heroes. Ryuu had been (thankfully) paired with Yaomomo and when they were deemed villains, her plan of sealing most entry points had given them an advantage. They had plenty of time to sit in waiting while their opponents tired themselves out trying to break through the steel barriers she had created. Ryuu’s superior speed allowed him to swing in close as soon as the other team broke through and he had them immobilized in minutes.

“The sight is in a remote location,” Aizawa-sensei’s voice cuts right through Ryuu’s thoughts and his head snaps up when he realizes he hasn’t been paying attention, “So we’ll be traveling by bus. That’s all. Get ready.” Raising an arm brandishing a remote, he clicks it at the wall and, with a hiss, the cases holding their hero costumes slide out.

Back in the locker rooms, an area Ryuu assumes will become quite familiar, Ryuu pulls on his jumpsuit. Hiking a leg up on a bench, he tugs on a boot, tying and tucking in the laces. He lets his fingers brush against the toe, noting the scaled pattern embedded into the fabric protecting the steel plate. Despite his bitterness towards his own Quirk, he couldn’t help modeling his costume after dragons anyway.

Someone lifts their own boot onto the bench in a similar fashion. Ryuu catches a freckled face out of the corner of his eye, pulled tight in concentration.

Ryuu drags a breath deep into his lungs. “Not wearing your actual costume today, Midoriya?”

The green haired boy looks over to him and a smile eases onto his face, smoothing out the skin over his cheeks. “Not today! It didn’t do so well during battle training. It’s in the Support Department for repairs.”

Ryuu hums, tightening the laces on his other foot and fastening the shin guard along the back of his knee. “I have a friend in the Support Department.” Why--why did he even say that? He’s hardly spoken to anyone in class, save for Momo. Why is it suddenly so easy to strike up a conversation with someone he doesn’t even know?

Midoriya’s eyes light up and Ryuu is reminded of why. He’s very familiar with green eyes and freckles.

“Really? I can’t believe you already knew someone who would be attending the same school as you.”

Looking past Midoriya to the other end of the locker room, Ryuu is about to comment on how they’re similar in that respect, but the words die on his tongue at the look of disgust Bakugou is wearing as he slides on his gauntlets. Now might not be a good time to bring that up.

Outside in front of the bus, newly elected class president Iida is shouting for everyone to line up to board in an orderly fashion. That plan is foiled, however, when they all realize the seating isn’t how they expected. Ryuu flops into a seat in the back, ignoring everyone that sits around him and looks out the window, resuming his day dreaming. 

As the bus begins to moving, he’s pulled from his thoughts by the buzz of conversation from his classmates. He catches small snippets of the other kids talking about their Quirks, comparing them. Ryuu wraps his tail around his ankle. Kirishima shows off his own Quirk and that actually grabs his attention as he watches scales roll up his arm, fingers sharpening into claws, the skin folding into stone. The spikey red-head makes some off-handed comment about his Quirk not being flashy and Ryuu wants to assure him that he’s dead wrong, but the words are swallowed behind sharp teeth cemented together. The conversation moves to commenting on others who aren’t involved in the conversation. Asui says something that strikes a chord with Bakugou, who explodes. Thankfully, it’s with a shout and not his Quirk.

“Hey, Gekido, your Quirk is pretty cool too.” Midoriya is staring straight at him, kind eyes boring right into his soul. “It’s not what one would expect.”

“He’s right,  _ kero _ ” Asui taps her chin with a long finger, “You look like you have a mutation, but your Quirk is actually fire breathing, right?”

He gulps, tail twisting tighter, causing the fabric of his costume to rub into his skin. He glances from face to face and when it lands on Yaomomo, who offers him a soft smile, he feels like he can breathe again. “Sort of,” he stammers out, “It’s more like a blast. It explodes on impact.”

“You have a long range Quirk, but I noticed you can also fight at close range!” Kirishima makes a fist, flashing a toothy grin. “That’s super manly!”

“As expected from a recommended student,” Asui drawls.

Midoriya’s eyebrows draw in and his hand rubs along his chin. “Come to think of it, Gekido is a really familiar name.”

Ryuu’s blood runs cold. He and Yaomomo share a glance.

“We’re here.” Aizawa-sensei’s tired sigh breaks up their conversation and Ryuu could cry as he heaves himself up on wobbly knees and exits the bus.

There’s a collective bout of “oohs” and “aahs” from the students of 1A as they enter the huge structure. It’s not just huge, Ryuu thinks, taking it all in when he can get an eyeful of what’s inside. It gargantuan. From the platform at the entrance, he can see waterfalls, lakes, forests, even whole buildings.

“You like it?” Hums a familiar voice. “I built it myself. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!”

“It’s Thirteen!” Both he and Yaomomo gasp in recognition.

“The space hero!” Midoriya pipes up. “They specialize in disaster relief and rescue missions!”

“Where’s All Might?” Asks Aizawa-sensei, “He should have been here by now.”

Ryuu can’t catch what Thirteen’s reply is, but they raise three of their fingers as they mutter back to the homeroom teacher. Aizawa-sensei just sighs, shaking his head. 

Thirteen turns back to the kids of 1A. “Before we begin,” They stare directly at the group with white, unblinking eyes. “There are a few points I’d like to make. As many of you are aware, my Quirk is called Black Hole.” Thirteen turns their stare to their raised hand. “I can pull things in and rip them apart. I’ve used my Quirk to rescue many trapped civilians. But I could also use my Quirk to kill, if I wanted to. I’m sure there are many of you here with similar abilities.”

Ryuu looks down. His mind’s eye is running at full speed, now, his shoulders tense with guilt. It didn’t seem all that long ago that Hiccup insisted he’d like to help Ryuu prepare for entering UA. They had been eleven. Ryuu was still having a hard time with the fireballs blasting from between his lips. It only took Hiccup being just a little bit too close. The blast never hit him, but he was unprepared for the aftershock. He had a nasty burn on his chin and a few bruises from being pushed back. It wasn’t even that bad. He didn’t cry. But Ryuu did. He had hurt his one and only friend with the power that he had grown to resent. Hiccup never let him feel bad about it, though, and soon enough his friend had worked him until he could hit multiple moving targets with enough precision to make a sniper blush.

“That’s why we’re here, today,” Thirteen continues, their white eyes raking over the group, “To teach you about relief, and how your Quirk can be useful not just for fighting, but for rescue.”

Aizawa steps forward. “Let’s get started--”

Before he can say anything else, his attention is drawn behind him, where the air has started to ripple. The kids glance at one another, murmuring their confusion. The empty space splits apart with a black mass. It expands like a festering wound into a pulsating mist. It continues to expand as figures slink from it as if they were stepping through a curtain.

“What’s going on?” Someone mutters.

“Is this part of our training?” Hisses someone else.

One by one, and then in groups of two, three, four, more and more figures appear. Some flex or spread out their arms, crouching and grinning, bearing weapons of all sorts: muscles, teeth, claws, horns, fire, electricity.

Ryuu, who had been standing at the front of the group, widens his stance, taking a step back. “I don’t think this is training.”

“Everyone back up!” Aizawa shouts, pulling on a pair of goggles, more lively than he’s ever been since Ryuu met him. “Those are real villains!”

“Shouldn’t there be alarms?” Yaomomo cries.

“Someone must have a quirk that jams the signal,” their teacher mumbles, cursing under his breath. “Thirteen! Get the kids out of here. Kaminari. Use your quirk to try to contact someone.”

“Got it!” He splutters, wide eyed but determined.

Thirteen steps in front of the group of students and ushers them back towards the door as Aizawa leaps from the platform, unwinding his scarf.

Peering over the space hero’s shoulder, Ryuu watches their sensei land in the middle of a group. He twists and lands a sharp kick in the face of one of the villains.

Before he can see more of what’s going on, his view is obstructed by more of the black mist that brought the army of villains in.

“I’m terribly sorry,” booms an echoing, disembodied voice, “but I can not allow you to go anywhere.” The mist swirls into one concentrated area, where glowing gold eyes snap open.

Thirteen presses their back against the group of students. Ryuu holds his arms out around the other kids behind him. His breath hitches in his throat and his tail quivers but he bares his fangs all the same. His blood is roaring in his ears and his eyes are blown wide. Truthfully, he doesn’t know what he’d do in this situation, but instinct tells him to try to protect everyone around him, even if he doesn’t know them very well. He wants to be a hero, after all. Eyes darting from side to side, he tries to see all of the black mist at once as it encircles the kids and closes in. Thirteen grasps his forearm in reassurance. Yaomomo and Midoriya press on either side of him, each lowering into a fighting stance. Everyone else feels the same as Ryuu. Fight and protect.

“We are the League of Villains,” the figure continues as more of his head forms before them, “Forgive our audacity but we are here only for one thing: To kill the Symbol of Peace.”

Midoriya flinches beside him.

“It seems, though,” the mist presses closer, “That he is not here. Was there a revision in his schedule? No matter. My role remains unchanged.”

Ryuu hisses as hands press down on his shoulder. Head snapping up, he has to crouch as legs soar past his head. Bakugou and Kirishima vault over their heads, fists raised, aiming right for the central figure in the mist. An explosion flies from Bakugou’s palm, but when the smoke clears, the figure just reforms.

“Too close, indeed,” the mist hisses, “You are all the best of the best in this school of heroes. But you are not good enough.”

The ground slips out from under Ryuu’s feet as he’s thrown into Midoriya. His lips parted in a silent scream, all he can see is Yaomomo’s terrified face before darkness surrounds him.

He squeezes his eyes shut and when he opens them again, he’s free falling right over a pool of water. He flicks his tail, attempting to turn the tumble into a dive to safely land in the lake. Upon impact, the breath is shoved from his lungs in a flurry of bubbles. He opens his eyes and can barely believe he’s still conscious after making a fall from that height.

But he doesn’t have time to think about that. A dark shape races towards him and he thrashes around in the water, trying to get out of its way. He whips his tail around, trying to figure out which way is up, lungs burning. In a flash, the figure whizzes past him, tugging on the fabric of his costume at his side. It burns where a gash forms and his nose and mouth fill with water.

Ryuu flails his arms and legs when something grabs him around the middle, ripping at the water with his claws, trying to fend off against his attacker.

“Calm down!” Chirps a voice, low and bubbly near his ear, “It’s just me,  _ kero _ !”

_ Asui? _

His head breaks the surface of the water and he takes a huge gasping breath, air filling his lungs and then he coughs out water with a such a violent force he thinks he pulls something in his chest.

“Get to that boat!” His savior cries once she surfaces too, “I’m going to find Midoriya!”

Before he can say anything, Asui dives back down and darts away.

He pumps his tail, using the thick fan at the end to propel him through the water. His attacker makes his way towards him again, trying to block him from the safety of the boat, bubbles forming in the water where he surfaces. He has the head of an anglerfish and one look at the sharp, overgrown teeth Ryuu knows this is the one who had slashed at his side. The anglerfish villain swims towards him, his eyes and lure just barely poking out over the water. With no time to dodge, Ryuu bares his claws and lashes out. His talons make contact with the villain’s face and he scores them down along his eye sockets.

Screaming in pain, his foe backs up, covering what’s left of his eyes with wrinkly webbed fingers.

Ryuu lurches forward again, moving closer and closer to the ship with each flick of his tail. He reaches out, trying to dig his claws into the fiberglass siding to pull his way up. They only glance off with a painful scraping noise. Looking around furiously for something to grab on to, he flinches when Asui breaks from the surface of the lake right next to him. She launches straight into the air with Midoriya in her arms, up and over the edge. When she lands, she looks back over the side.

“Grab on,  _ kero!” _ She cries. She opens her mouth wide, and a long pink tongue rolls out, stretching all the way back down to the water. It snakes around Ryuu’s middle and he tries not to curl his lip in disgust as he’s yanked out of the water and flung into the boat.

Landing gracefully on his hands and feet, he puts his head down, panting. “Thanks, Asui.”

“Please call me Tsu.”

He nods. “Then call me Ryuu.” He lets out another cough, the water not completely cleared from his lungs. “What even happened?”

“I think that black mist villain has a warping Quirk,” Midoriya hums. He’s sitting cross-legged, a hand on his chin, his curly green hair weighed down by the water dripping off the ends.

“It said they were here to kill All Might,” Tsu croaks.

“How is that even possible?” Ryuu gasps.

Midoriya bows his head. “I’m not sure. But if they’re bold enough to show up like this, that means they must have found a way!”

“Is there even a way?”

“I...I don’t know.” Midoriya’s eyes gloss over, as if he’s not seeing what’s right in front of him.

“How did they even find out where we were?”

The green haired boy taps his chin. “I bet they caused that run in with the media to distract everyone and swipe the schedule.”

“Regardless,” Tsu chimes in, “We need to figure out how to get out of here. Who knows when All Might will arrive. Can we even hold out that long?”

Midoriya peers over the edge of the ship. All around them in the water are villains with water related Quirks, treading water, staring up at them.

“Why aren’t they attacking?” Ryuu asks, following Midoriya’s line of sight.

He taps his chin again, his brows furrowed in concentration. “All of their Quirks must be suited for aquatic combat. Maybe they’re waiting for us to get in the water?” He turns towards Tsu. “But so are you. Why would that villain warp you here, where your Quirk is most useful?”

“Maybe,” Ryuu mutters, details clicking together, “None of them know what our Quirks are. That’s why they separated us. To have the advantage of numbers. I bet that’s why they’re just floating there now. They have no clue what we’re capable of.”

“You’re right,  _ kero. _ We can use that to our advantage.” Tsu crouches, her tongue poking out from between her lips. “I can jump really high. And stick to walls. My tongue stretches up to 20 meters and it’s very strong. That’s about all I can do that’s useful.”

“You all know about my plasma blasts,” Ryuu adds, “I have a shot limit, though. Six full powered blasts before my body needs a ten minute cool down to remake the gas. I’ve also got claws, sharp teeth and a tail. I’m fireproof, too, but that doesn’t really help here.”

Midoriya looks at his hand, his face pulling into a tight frown. “I have a strength enhancing Quirk. But I’ll get hurt if I’m not careful. My body can’t handle it.”

_ If I had Father’s wings, this would be much easier,  _ Ryuu thinks, grinding his teeth together.

For the second time, the ground lurches from under him as the ship cracks in two.

“I’m getting bored!” Shouts the shark faced villain.

“They broke the boat in half!” Midoriya wails.

“We need to get out of here!” Ryuu shouts, heaving himself to his feet. “There’s no time to sit around! All Might isn’t going to save us. It’s time to save ourselves!”

“All Might said,” Midoriya mutters, almost too low to hear, “The moment a villain thinks they’ve won is the best chance. We can do this.”

A high pitched wail rising in his throat, Ryuu leans over the edge of the ship, taking aim. Plasma shoots from his mouth in three consecutive blasts. The balls of fire speed towards the group in the water and before they can dodge, three of the villains receive a full face of fire. Explosions follow, blasting outward in a circle so the heat swarms the surrounding area.

In that same moment, Midoriya vaults over the railing. “Die!” He screeches. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Ryuu hollers.

“SMASH!!!”

Right below Midoriya, the water splits apart, with a force greater than Ryuu has ever seen.

“That’s our cue,  _ kero.” _ Tsu holds out an arm. “Hold onto me.”

Ryuu wraps an arm around her waist and she launches into the air on powerful legs. Tongue shooting out to wrap around Midoriya, she catches him in midair just as the water crashes back together in a swirling whirlpool that even the aquatic villains can’t swim against. 

“Good job, you two,” She croaks with a slight lisp.

Midoriya only grunts, holding his arm in pain. Ryuu doesn’t say anything as they sail over the water.

The land with a thud near the shore, rolling over and over in the shallows.

Quickly, Ryuu scrambles to his feet and fires a shot straight into the chest of one of the villains that hadn’t been knocked out by the change in the lake’s current. He skids backwards along the surface of the water into the body of another, where they stay, floating unconscious along the water.

_ “Kero,  _ Midoriya, are you hurt?”

Ryuu turns back around and crouches beside his classmate, who’s curled his arm in towards himself.

“Let me see it,” He hums gently, tugging on Midoriya’s arm. “That doesn’t look good.” 

Where his glove is torn, his middle finger and thumb are black with bruising and are bent backwards, broken, perhaps even shattered, blood oozing from cuts and tears in the skin.

“I’m fine,” He mumbles, as Ryuu pulls off his hood to wrap it around his hand. “We need to get to safety and call for help. If we follow the shore, we should be able to make it back to the entrance.”

“It looks like Aizawa-sensei is still fighting up there.” Tsu points off into the distance.

Back up towards the entrance, they can see their teacher flipping, kicking, punching, fighting by himself, holding his own against a huge group of villains.

“There’s so many of them!” Midoriya breathes, “He can’t take them all on by himself!”

“Neither can we,” Ryuu growls, “He’s holding his own.”

“He’s doing it for us! We need to find an opening and help him if we can!”

“You’ll just hurt yourself more!”

“Whether we can or can’t fight them,” Tsu cuts in, “We can’t get to the entrance right now.”

Stretching out even further in the distance, more and more villains gather, surrounding their teacher, ready for their chance to take him down.

Ryuu sucks in a breath. There’s even more villains than they thought. None of the other students have turned up. All Might is no where to be seen. How are they ever going to win this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I had to actually rewrite this whole chapter because I forgot that since Mineta is getting replaced by Tooth it means he'd likely wind up with Izuku and Tsu at USJ. Hopefully it works as much as I thought it did.  
> Oh, almost forgot, I'm participating in Kiribaku week next month, so if you're interested, keep an eye out for other works from me in mid-April  
> See you in two weeks for a POV switch.  
> Plus Ultra!


End file.
